J Albin - From Motorhome to Mini
Director of Viticulture and Winemaking at King Estate by Day,
Family Winemaker at Home
by Jean Yates
If a winery was a car, John Albin would drive a motorhome. John "J" Albin is Director of Viticulture and Winemaking at King Estate Winery, managing the entire grape growing and winemaking process at the largest winery in Oregon. He "drives" 465 acres of vineyard, 100,000+ cases of wine, and over 200 employees.
John's other winery car is mini-sized. J Abin, the family's below-the-radar winery, makes John's personal style of Pinot noir. At home, John "drives" 11 acres of vineyard, 500 cases of wine a year, and his two teenager sons as assistants. John's delectable old vine wines are exceptionally well priced.
In 1981, when the Oregon wine industry was tiny and little known, the Albin family planted a vineyard. Almost thirty years later, their Pinot noirs show all the benefits gained for wines made from grapes whose qualities of complexity and depth can only be acquired by time.
At right Laurel Vineyard, Summer 2008
From Beer to Wine,
and Seattle to Oregon
A degree from U.C. Davis's Fermentation Science Program earned in 1978 launched John Albin's career. In the '80s, the good fermentation related jobs were in beer making, and for a decade, John worked as a brewmeister at several Seattle based craft breweries . However, John's dream was to have a winery. Beer paid the bills, and the J Albin Winery became more than a dream with the purchase of a parcel of land suitable for a vineyard in Oregon.
The Albin's Laurel Vineyard was founded when John and his wife Lynn's beautiful site in the Chehalem Mountains (now the Chehalem Mountains AVA) was planted in Pinot Noir. They chose their location well, and Laurel Vineyard was soon joined by vineyards for prestigious wineries including Willakenzie and Beaux Freres. Today, the area is considered some of the best grape growing land in the Northwest.
The Albins lived in Seattle through the 1980's and commuted to their vineyard. They traveled down I-5 on weekends to tend the vineyard. At first, John sold all of his grapes to King Estate, saving a bit to make the first J. Albin wines.
Around 1990, selling grapes to King Estate led to managing a crew at crush time, to more seasonal jobs, and on to a full time position at King Estate. Today, John is King Estate's Director of Viticulture and Winemaking. He manages the 450 acre organic estate vineyard at King Estate, works with over 40 contract vineyards, and oversees all winemaking. He is responsible for all wine production at Oregon’s largest winery.
The Laurel Vineyard
The Laurel Vineyard is planted to Pinot Noir : Pommard, 113, 114 and Coury clones. The Pinot Noirs produced from this vineyard have aromas of cedar, tobacco, earth and dark cherry. These are long-lived wines with natural acidity, smooth silky tannins, with complex flavors of dark red fruit, smoked meat and oak spice. The grapes are allowed to ripen slowly over an extended season. There is something special about these wines.
Celebrating its 29th growing season, the Laurel Vineyard bears some of the highest elevation and oldest vines in Oregon. The vineyard is comprised of Laurelwood and Loess wind-deposited soils from Eastern Oregon. They overlay basalt parent soils.
